Treatment of essential blepharospasm. II. A modification of exposure for the muscle stripping technique.

The refinement of a muscle excision technique for the correction of essential blepharospasm has been a major contribution to treatment. In this procedure, incisions are made directly above the eyebrow to excise the brow muscles, often resulting in adherent scars and poor brow position. The bicoronal scalp flap has been used by many other surgical subspecialities for exposure of the frontal bone area, eg, in neurosurgical procedures, sinus surgery, and cosmetic forehead lifts. The use of the coronal flap exposure for excision of the corrugator and procerus muscles has allowed them to be more easily excised and has avoided the problems associated with the direct brow incisions. The Anderson muscle stripping technique, combined with the coronal flap exposure for the brow muscles, provides the best correction for the spasms in patients who have essential blepharospasm. The frequency of complications is low, and patient acceptance is high.